— 17-year old Zandra Cunningham just won a national business plan competition, and now she is planning her 5th annual entrepreneurship summit for teen girls in Buffalo, NY. —

New York, NY — 43North is a startup competition in a league of its own that has given away more than $5 million to entrepreneurs. Just recently, 17-year old entrepreneur Zandra Cunningham won the organization’s collaborative M/WBE business plan competition designed to elevate the profile of minority and women business owners. It’s called The Pitch, and after pitching her social goods brand, Zandra prevailed as the $15,000 grand prize winner in the Growth Companies category.

On the heals of winning The Pitch, Zandra is also announcing her Day of The Buffalo Girl Summit. This free annual event will take place on October 7, 2017 in the iconic Buffalo Museum of Science, and is a public-private partnership with the Zandra TLC Foundation designed to raise awareness of gender issues and empower young women to take action against the status quo through education and entrepreneurship. The one-day event will be fun-filled with workshops, performances and discussions that will engage and stimulate attendees through science, technology, engineering, arts and design, and mathematics (STEAM), wellness and much more.

“When girls come together at Day of the Girl Buffalo 2017, they can share their own perspective on what really matters to them and teach themselves, adults, boys, and other girl’s new ways of thinking about gender issues. Using the tools, techniques and help from our network, we hope girls will feel empowered to address their issues and change the status quo. This is an awesome event and our goal is to keep hosting this event at no cost to the girls and their families so that they can freely get involved with all the activities that truly inspire them,” says Zandra.

Day of the Girl Buffalo events will include: Wellness Advice, Dance Performances, Creative Arts and DIY STEM projects, Business Basics – Build your own empire sessions, a Kids Business Marketplace and Vendor Marketplace. There will also be special speaker topics on bullying, cyber safety, teen physical and mental health, college preparedness and money management. Parents are welcome to explore these sessions, discover more about Buffalo at the Community Information Booths or relax at the Parent Engagement Lounge.

The Day of the Girl is an international movement designed to mobilize girls to explore their unique roles in the world. Each year, in the month of October, Zandra works with local partners to highlight issues of neglect and devaluation among girls. It uses its business platform to celebrate and promote the betterment and fulfillment of young girls – starting local and sharing their awareness and initiatives across the globe.

The Day of The Girl Buffalo 2017 is sponsored by Buffalo Rising, CAO (Community Action Organization), Erie County Medical Center, Buffalo Museum of Science, Buffalo Public Schools, Buffalo Promise Neighborhoods, Cake Crazy Bakery, FabUBus Mobile Spa, Yogi In Da Trap and Living Well with DeChantell, Miracle Missions Full Gospel Church, Erie County Commission on the Status of Women, and Zandra.

About the Zandra TLC Foundation
Established in 2016, The Zandra TLC Foundation is a 501(c)3 that was created to expose, empower, and inspire girls ages 7-18 with an emphasis on underserved communities to see beyond their current situations and expose them to new possibilities in career choice, health, wellness, STEAM and more. The foundation recognizes that girls have the power to change their families, communities and impact the world. The Zandra TLC Foundation promotes quality programming that helps create social and economic change through education and entrepreneurship.

About Zandra
Zandra Azariah Cunningham is a 17-year old entrepreneur from Buffalo, NY. As CEO, she has built the award-winning Zandra company into a national beauty brand earning recognition as the Etsy Open Call Golden PO Winner, BE Teenpreneur of the year nominee (2016), Small Business Administration Youth Entrepreneur of the year (2017). Zandra has been featured on Inc., Black Enterprise, USA Today, NPR, ABC Nightline, NBC Today Show, Nickelodeon, Harry Show, Steve Harvey Funderdome, Seventeen Magazine, Girls Life Magazine. She is the TOFi™ International HERs OWNly JR™ ambassador, and a United Nations Foundation Teen Advisor. Through philanthropy and advocacy, Cunningham champions “girls on the move!” – girl’s rights and education – and leads her company’s Beauty Ambassador Program which donates up to 10% of all profits to support girls’ education. Read more about the Zandra story at www.Zandrabeauty.com.